Apparatus for producing a package for groups of flat objects

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for producing a series of package inserts, each insert supporting several rows of crackers, or objects of similar form, and being formed for this purpose to have upstanding dividing walls which delimit chambers holding the individual rows of crackers. The apparatus is composed of a series of conveyors which sequentially support the insert while maintaining the dividing walls in their desired configuration, permit rows of crackers to be deposited in the chambers, and move the chambers of each insert close together for final packaging.

[ Mar. 19, 1974 United States Patent 91 Fluck APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS PACKAGE FOR GROUPS OF FLAT OBJECTS 53/156 X 10/1970 Griner et al. 53/156 Hansel, Jr.

Rheinfall, Switzerland Primary Examiner--Robert L. Spruill Assigneez SIG Schweizertsche Y A lndusme cesellschafi Attorney, gent, or zrm Spencer & Kaye industrieplatz, Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland ABSTRACT Jam 16, 1973 Apparatus for producing a series of package inserts,

33 m a n e S u a h u e N k c u i F 'e n e R n o t n e V n I l. 5 7 .l.

221 Filed:

. each insert supporting several rows of crackers, or ob- Appl. No.: 324,121 jects of similar form, and being formed for this purpose to have upstanding dividing walls which delimit chambers holding the individual rows of crackers. The

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 28, 1972 apparatus is composed of a series of conveyors which Switzerland.... 1245/72 sequentially support the insert while maintaining the dividing walls in their desired configuration, permit [52] US. 53/156, 53/183, 53/250 rows of crackers to be deposited in the chambers! and [51] Int. B65b 5/06, B65b 35/30 move the chambers of each insert close together for [58] Field of Search 53/156, 159, 183, 237, final packaging 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A PACKAGE FOR GROUPS OF FLAT OBJECTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention'relates to apparatus for making a package for groups of flat objects, particularly biscuits or crackers, the package including a strip-shaped piece constituting a supporting insert, portions of the strip being bent approximately perpendicularly to 'the bottom of the package and folded against one another to form individual chambers.

Apparatus for' producing packages of the abovementioned type are known and Swiss Pat. No. 386,922 discloses this type of apparatus. In the apparatus shown in this patent, the strip-shaped supporting insert is formed by pivotalaxially compressible folding stamps and folding forks. Such apparatus is relatively complicated and its output is limited. i

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which is'substantially simpler, and thus less expensive, than previously known apparatus. It is also an object of the present invention to provide apparatus which can operate faster than known apparatus and thus permits a substantial increase in output. e

The apparatus according to the present inventionincludes a feed device for the strip-shaped supporting insert with means for prefolding the bent-up strip portions at an acute angle, a first endless conveying member with carriers arranged at distances corresponding to the spacing of the bent-up strip portions for engaging BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a package produced with the aid of the apparatus according to the present invention. I Y i FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of apparatus according to the "present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partially cross-sectional view of the conveying members taken along line I-VI V of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 3, of a'second embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partially cross-sectional'view of the conveying members taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The transparent package shown in FIG. 1 for, as an example, three groups'of perpendicularly arranged flat The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 serves to produce the supporting inserts 2. The apparatus which is subsequently used for applying the outer cover 3 around the crackers in the insert is not part of the present invention and is therefore not illustrated. Suitable apparatus for this purpose presently in commercial use is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,563 and in British Pat. No. 1,199,812.

The corrugated cardboard to be formed into the supporting insert 2 is removed, as a strip, from a supply roll 4 and is passed through a known device 5, having stamping rollers, which provides it with creases 6 in the longitudinal direction of the strip. Thereafter the strip is cuttr ansversely to its longitudinal direction into individual sections, each forming a supporting insert 2, by means of a cutting apparatus 7. The individual supporting inserts 2 are gripped on both sides by pairs of conveyor belts 8 and fed to a first endless conveying member generally indicated at 9.

It will be noted that the pairs of conveyor belts 8 are not parallel but converge when seen in the conveying direction. Thus they are farther apart at the point of entry of the supporting inserts 2 than at the point of exit of these supporting inserts 2. With this arrangement the two end regions 2b of the supporting inserts are moved toward one another. In this operation the inserts are prefolded along the creases 6 so that the portions intended as partitions 2a are pushed upward to form an acute angle. The supporting inserts 2 in this prefolded form are then transferred to the first endless conveying member 9.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the conveying member 9 includes, for example, two endless chains 10 which are connected together by rod-shaped carriers 11. Chains 10 are driven by at least one forward drive wheel and one rear guide wheel.v These wheels can conveniently be toothed sprockets. The carriers 11 are arranged to be spaced apart by a distance a and this spacing corresponds to the spacing between the bent-up partition portions 2a of the supporting inserts 2. Carriers 11 can thus engage between the bent-up partitions 2a while the horizontal portions of the supporting insert 2 are supported for movement along a slide path 12.

The supporting inserts 2 are now transported by the conveying member 9 beneath a known metering and filling apparatus which is not shown in detailbut which is indicated as being at the position of the arrow 13. This apparatus deposits counted groups of crackers 1 into the individual chambers of insert 2. As shown at theleft hand side of FIG. 3, the carriers 11a disposed between two adjacentsupporting inserts insure that the crackers 1' cannot roll out of their chambers at the front and rear end of each insert 2.

At the end of conveying member 9 the filled supporting inserts 2 are transferred to a second endless conveying member, generally indicated at 14. This member also includes, for example, two endless chains 15 which are connected together by-rod-type carriers 16. The conveying member 14 is disposed above the row of filled supporting inserts 2which rest on a slide path 17. The distance I) between two consecutive carriers 16 in the second conveying member 14 approximately correspondsto three times the distance a of the carriers of the first conveying member 9.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, thecarriers 16 enter into the gaps between two supporting inserts and engage at the respective rearmost group of crackers l of an insert 2. Due to the conveying pressure exerted by carrier 16 on the rearmost group of crackers of a supporting insert 2 and due to the friction of insert 2 on slide path 17, the partition portions 2a are now pressed against one another so that the filled supporting insert 2 takes on its final shape.

As shown in FIG. 2 the completely formed, filled supporting inserts 2 are now taken over by a third endless conveying member, generally indicated at 18. This conveying member which is disposed below the row of supporting inserts 2 has rod-shaped carriers 19 and also has the identical configuration as the second conveying member 14. The third conveying member transports the filled supporting inserts to a packaging apparatus, not shown, which produces the cover 3.

The three endless conveying members 9, 14, 18 may of course also have a configuration other than that described. For example, only one chain, or a single endless belt, may be provided to which only one end of the rod-shaped carriers 11, 16, 19 are attached.

The above-described apparatus, which is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, with its three conveying members 9, l4 and 18 requires a rather large amount of space. In those cases where the filled supporting inserts 2 can be brought to the packing station by means of a topside conveying member, the third conveying member can be eliminated. However, in practice it is often necessary to bring the filled supporting inserts to the packing station by means of a conveying member disposed below them. Even in such cases the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 permits the use of only two conveying members and thereby reduces the structural length of the apparatus.

In this second embodiment both conveying members 9 and 14' are arranged to be below the supporting inserts. The arrangement and design of the first conveying member 9, together with the endless chain 10 are the same as for the embodiment of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, except that carriers 11a are eliminated. The rear guide wheels for the chains of the second conveying member 14' are arranged on the same shaft as the rear guide wheels for chains 10. The front drive wheels for these chains 15, however, are disposed on their own shaft which is spaced forward of drive wheel shaft for chains 10 and is disposed in the area of the packing station.

Chains l0 and 15 in this case no longer travel in common planes. The planes of rotation of chains 15', as seen in FIG. 6, are rather outwardly offset with respect to those of chains 10 so that the chains can move next to one another without interference. Carriers 16 are no longer fastened directly to the associated chains 15. They are each held by two bent bars 20 and each bar is fastened to one of the two chains. Carriers 16 thus lie between chains 10. In this mutual arrangement and design of the conveying members 9 and 14', the carriers 11 can leave the path of carriers 16 without interference once they have passed through the filling device 13 while chains 10 pass around their front drive wheels. I

The principal operation of the two embodiments is identical. with the exception that in the second embodiment the carriers 16' of conveying member 14 take over the function of carriers 11a in the first embodi ment in the effective range of conveying member 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, a support 24 provided with downwardly extending bristles 25 is disposed at such height above the crackers 1 transported by conveying member 9 that the bristles 25 come into contact with the upper edges of the crackers passing beneath. In that manner the foremost group 1 of crackers is prevented from rolling out of their chamber at the front end of insert 2 during movement of the insert.

Horizontally extending guiding bars 22 and 23 shown in a sectional view in FIGS. 4 and 6 maintain the crackers 1 in an upright position. In the associated FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, respectively, these guiding bars are not represented.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In the packaging of groups of flat objects in a package provided with a supporting insert made of a stripshaped piece provided with at least approximately perpendicularly bent and folded strip portions to form chambers, apparatus comprising, in combination:

a. a feeding device for supplying such supporting inserts, said device including means for precreasing the bent-up strip portions at an acute angle;

b. a first endless conveying means having carriers arranged at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing between the bent-up strip portions and disposed to receive such inserts from said feeding device and to engage under the bent-up strip portions thereof;

c. means for depositing a group of such objects into each chamber of each such insert; and

d. a second endless conveying means having spaced apart carrier members, said second endless conveying means being disposed to receive the filled supporting inserts from said first endless conveying means, with each said carrier member engaging the rearmost group of objects in a respective supporting insert as the inserts move in the conveying direction defined by said second conveying means.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the flat objects are crackers.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second endless conveying means are arranged one behind the other, said first endless conveying means being operative in the region of the feeding zone for the supporting inserts and in the zone for deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts, and said second endless conveying means being operative to subsequently convey the filled supporting inserts.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second endless conveying means are disposed in side-by-side relationship, in at least the feeding zone for the supporting inserts and in the zone for the deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts.

5. An arrangement as defined in claim 4, wherein said first endless conveying means is effective in a conveying manner during passage of the inserts through feeding zones for the supporting inserts and the zone for the deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts, and said carrier members on said second endless conveying means are in spaced relationship between adjacent supporting inserts in the zones in which said first endless conveying means is effective and each of said carrier members is engageable with a rearmost group of objects in an associated supporting insert only toward said first endless conveying means, said belts being spaced apart but converging from the beginning of the conveying path to its end thereof for forming acutely angled bent-up partitions in the supporting inserts includes at least two endless conveying belts 5 serts. Y

which convey each insert along a conveying path 

1. In the packaging of groups of flat objects in a package provided with a supporting insert made of a strip-shaped piece provided with at least approximately perpendicularly bent and folded strip portions to form chambers, apparatus comprising, in combination: a. a feeding device for supplying such supporting inserts, said device including means for precreasing the bent-up strip portions at an acute angle; b. a first endless conveying means having carriers arranged at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing between the bentup strip portions and disposed to receive such inserts from said feeding device and to engage under the bent-up strip portions thereof; c. means for depositing a group of such objects into each chamber of each such insert; and d. a second endless conveying means having spaced apart carrier members, said second endless conveying means being disposed to receive the filled supporting inserts from said first endless conveying means, with each said carrier member engaging the rearmost group of objects in a respective supporting insert as the inserts move in the conveying direction defined by said second conveying means.
 2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein the flat objects are crackers.
 3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second endless conveying means are arranged one behind the other, said first endless conveying means being operative in the region of the feeding zone for the supporting inserts and in the zone for deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts, and said second endless conveying means being operative to subsequently convey the filled supporting inserts.
 4. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said first and second endless conveying means are disposed in side-by-side relationship, in at least the feeding zone for the supporting inserts and in the zone for the deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts.
 5. An arrangement as defined in claim 4, wherein said first endless conveying means is effective in a conveying manner during passage of the inserts through feeding zones for the supporting inserts and the zone for the deposition of the objects into the supporting inserts, and said carrier members on said second endless conveying means are in spaced relationship between adjacent supporting inserts in the zones in which said first endless conveying means is effective and each of said carrier members is engageable with a rearmost group of objects in an associated supporting insert only after such insert moves beyond the effective range of said first endless conveying means.
 6. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said feeding device for the strip-shaped supporting inserts includes at least two endless conveying belts which convey each insert along a conveying path toward said first endless conveying means, said belts being spaced apart but converging from the beginning of the conveying path to its end thereof for forming acutely angled bent-up partitions in the supporting inserts. 